Mastitis is an inflammation of the mammary gland that occurs when pathogenic microorganisms enter the udder. Even though tremendous advancements in veterinary diagnosis and therapeutics, mastitis is still the most frequent and costly disease of dairy herds overall the world. The purpose of this research was to isolate and identify the lytic phages as a potential method for biological control of bovine mastitis. In this study Klebsiella oxytoca was isolated from contaminated milk samples of Isfahan dairy herds, Isfahan, Iran and characterized as K. oxytoca ABG-IAUF-1 and its 16s-rRNA sequence was deposited in GenBank under the accession numbers of MF175803.1. Then, the four novel specific lytic bacteriophages of K. oxytoca ABG-IAUF-1 from Isfahan public wastewater were isolated and identified. The results of transmission electron microscopy indicated that theses isolated phages were related to Myoviridae and Podoviridae families of bacteriophages. Also the analysis of the growth curve of K. oxytoca ABG-IAUF-1 before and after treatment with lytic phage showed the 97% success rate of the phages in preventing of bacterial growth. This is the first report indicating the use of bacteriophages as the potential agents for eliminating the pathogenic bacteria responsible for bovine mastitis in Iran. The applications of these lytic phages could be an asset for biocontrolling of pathogenic agents in medical and veterinary biotechnology.

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Background: Oxidative stress induced by aluminum (Al) toxicity leads to the dysfunction of the hematopoietic system. Detoxifying by means of common chelators causes many side effects. Therefore, researchers have been trying to find safer treatments. Objectives: This study aimed to evaluate the effects of Saccharomyces boulardii and S. boulardii enriched with selenium (Se) on Alinduced toxicity in rats. Methods: Female rats were divided into 6 groups: (A) Control group, (B) S. boulardii treatment group, (C) enriched S. boulardii treatment group, (D) Al-infected group, (E) S. boulardii treated and Al-infected group, (F) enriched S. boulardii treated and Al-infected group. At the end of the treatment period, blood samples were taken directly from the hearts of rats in order to measure hematological parameters, total antioxidant capacity (T-AOC), malondialdehyde (MDA) concentrations, iron, and total iron binding capacity (TIBC). Results: Results revealed significant increases of white blood cells (WBC), red cell distribution width (RDW), TIBC and MDA in group D as compared to the control group and significant reductions of these factors in groups E and F as compared to group D. T-AOC, iron, and mean corpuscular volume (MCV) decreased in group D as compared to the control group, but significantly increased in groups E and F as compared to group D. Other observed changes were not statistically significant. Conclusions: It appears that S. boulardii partly reduced the harmful effects of Al toxicity, especially when enriched with Se due to its antioxidant properties. Further studies are needed in this area.

Background and aims: Antimicrobial peptides constitute a family of bioactive peptides that are involved in the body defense. Recently, their anti-cancer properties, especially by inducing apoptosis, have been proven in in vitro studies. Therefore, in this study, the effects of cecropin B as an antimicrobial peptide on breast cancer growth, hematological parameters, and histopathological changes in rats were evaluated. Methods: Twenty-four female rats were randomly divided into 4 groups. The cancer group, control group, cecropin B group, and cancer group treated with cecropin B. The tumor size was measured at the beginning and the completion of the treatment period. Blood samples were collected for assessment of the hematological parameters and Bax and Bcl2 levels. Tumor tissues were removed for histopathological analysis. Results: The tumor size had a significant increase in the cancer group and cancer group treated with cecropin at the end of the treatment. A significant decrease in mean cell volume, white blood cell count and Bcl2 level and a significant increase in hemoglobin and Bax levels were observed in the cancer group treated with cecropin B compared to cancer group. Changes in other parameters were not significant. Histopathological study showed the invasion of mitotic cells to stromal and muscular tissues of the breast in the cancer group, while focal destruction of tissue and cell death were observed in the cancer group treated with cecropin B. Conclusion: The results showed that cecropin B has been able to reduce tumor growth and have little side effects on hematologic factors probably through apoptosis.